"Painting" Canopies with Tape

[stona]

^^^ Exactly.^^^

[Guest]

I think Steve was referring to the "decal" film that Ian mentioned.

I must say this is all very interesting though, and I may incorporate a few ideas for other projects.

[Guest]

I think Steve was referring to the "decal" film that Ian mentioned.I must say this is all very interesting though, and I may incorporate a few ideas for other projects.

O woops eee correct. Decal Film. Apologies Steve (Kir).

You are right Colin some new ideas. Just shows how good it is for the same subject to re-appear with new ideas springing up.

Laurie

[Guest]

I have repeated my canopy tape masking but made the strips much narrower (probably near to being as narrow as possible:

[ATTACH]74365.IPB[/ATTACH]


Better. The centre horizontal strip is too high at the right and too low at the left, but that was just carelessness.

Of course, models are not normally viewed at the equivalent of 1 inch from the eye, so here is what it looks like in context on a model (which is probably taken as closely as normal photos go). I think it looks much more acceptable than the moth-eaten edges of the precut mask method that I showed earlier and which are completely unacceptable. Bad canopy masking ruins a model. I have noted somewhere that the canopy should not be painted with primer-as I did. (The canopy in the picture is simply a practice-piece and does not belong on a Lancaster).

So I'm going to chalk this down as a possible method to take further. When the materials for the other methods arrive (eg., Decal film, Parafilm) I will pursue those and report. Thanks for all the help..

[ATTACH]74366.IPB[/ATTACH]

[Adrian "Marvel" Reynolds]

For my 2p worth,,, I never use Tamiya tape or anything other than Bare Metal Foil, my reasons been its much thinner than anything else so leaves very little step between glass and panel lines, when its burnished down it picks out even the smallest raised panel line which can then be cut with a sharp knife. Finally I've never had any seepage under it.

Adrian

[Ian M]

Stevekir. I use clear decal film, I paint the interior colour first then when that is dry paint the out side colour over the top- When the "decal" id put on the canopy the back of the decal is green and the out side, grey or brown or what ever colour I choose.

Hope thats a bit clearer now.

Ian M

[Guest]

Stevekir. I use clear decal film, I paint the interior colour first then when that is dry paint the out side colour over the top- When the "decal" id put on the canopy the back of the decal is green and the out side, grey or brown or what ever colour I choose.Hope thats a bit clearer now.

Ian M

Yes, clear now. I assume that the decal film sticks because it is designed to do so (at least on paint). I will investigate.

[Ian M]

Basicly Steve you are just making a decal. Instead of printing one on a printer, you are just painting one. I just spray the colours, let them dry thoroughly and then use as any other decal.

Cut out and put in place. The decal film will be a bit "rubbery" and can stretch a bit but do stick well to the clear canopies.

Ian M

[Guest]

Does brush painting on this decal sheet cause any issues Ian?

[Ian M]

Does brush painting on this decal sheet cause any issues Ian?

Sorry never tried it so I owe you a reply there...

I'll give it a try and let you know-

Ian M

[Guest]

I'll give it a try and let you know-

Thanks mate, much appreciated.

[Guest]

As you say the tape ones are the sharpest but are a bit 'chunky' maybe half as wide will work better.A thing I have been playing with is the decal film you can buy, among other places in John's shop.

I paint a bit with the interior colour, then when dry the outside colour. When cured, a new scalpel can be used to cut the widths you need. A good thing is that the printer film is pretty tough and with the paint on has a thickness that works well as frames.

A final dip in "Klear" helps seal things down but watch out for pools forming in the corners.

I tried this out on the Sea Mosquito I posted a while back.

Ian M

I'm having a go at this. I plan to brush paint the colour (Model Air).

When you use it, do you brush or airbrush the paint on?

When using paint, do you follow the decal paper instructions to coat it with two coats of Microscal Liquid Decal Film? (They advise this to prevent smudging since the manufacturer assumes that the decal film will be printed on a printer using water-based inks).

I assume that you use Micro Set and Micro Sol as in conventional decal application. Yes?

Have you tried printing (on a printer) a patch of colour and then cutting into strips? This would closely follow the method envisaged by the makers of decal film and might make the colour coat stick on more securely.

I will of course experiment but it is useful to be able to avoid red herrings known not to work or not to have an advantage.

[The Migrant]

Have you tried printing (on a printer) a patch of colour and then cutting into strips? This would closely follow the method envisaged by the makers of decal film and might make the colour coat stick on more securely.

I don't think this would work as the inks would be transparent (unless you're printing black canopy frames).

If you're painting strips of decal one thing I've found is that it's better to cut the strips before painting, as trying to do it afterwards invariably chips the paint at the edges, no matter how sharp the blade. I don't cut all the way through the paper, just deep enough to go through the varnish layer, then the interior color is airbrushed, followed by the camo colour/s.

The decal strip method works great where the canopy frames are all straight lines, but where complex curves are needed it's difficult to 'guess' the shapes to cut. I'm another fan of Parafilm as it's transparent enough to clearly see the moulded canopy frames and it doesn't leave a residue as someone else pointed out. It adheres best to Future'd canopies, the extra gloss really helps. It does require a steady hand to freehand cut the lines, but a tip that I was taught in art school is to not look at the tip of the blade, but a few mm ahead to where you want the blade to go; the brain fills in the gap and the blade follows. It sounds bizarre, but it really does work. Honest.

[Ian M]

I'm having a go at this. I plan to brush paint the colour (Model Air).When you use it, do you brush or airbrush the paint on?

When using paint, do you follow the decal paper instructions to coat it with two coats of Microscal Liquid Decal Film? (They advise this to prevent smudging since the manufacturer assumes that the decal film will be printed on a printer using water-based inks).

I assume that you use Micro Set and Micro Sol as in conventional decal application. Yes?

Have you tried printing (on a printer) a patch of colour and then cutting into strips? This would closely follow the method envisaged by the makers of decal film and might make the colour coat stick on more securely.

I will of course experiment but it is useful to be able to avoid red herrings known not to work or not to have an advantage.

Sorry for the late reply. A lot going on at the moment.

I airbrush the normal Vallejo model color direct onto the clear decal film and leave it to dry over night.

I did not use any decal solutions at all. Acrylic paint, when dry is water fast so no need to seal it.

Printer ink is to translucent and then there is the problem of matching the colour.

Ian M

[Ian M]

hej Mike good to see you're still looking in.

Ian M